


Knowing

by flight815kitsune



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Aromantic, Asexuality, Coming Out, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:21:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3747355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight815kitsune/pseuds/flight815kitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aro ace Daryl Dixon coming out fic I wished to see in the world. Featuring Aaron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowing

This trip outside the walls was nowhere near as exciting as the last one, at least not so far. You never knew when a situation could go to shit, but they hadn’t even seen a walker for miles.

Still. Real hard to be a recruiter when there ain’t people to recruit.

“When’d you know?” The fire was burning low. They wouldn’t feed it, it’d just work against the whole element-of-surprise, secret spy angle that Aaron already had going on. He was good at letting people see what they wanted to see in him. 

“Hmm?” Aaron had his eyes shut, but there was no way he was out.

He was observant, too. He’d’a probably figured it out soon enough anyway. He hadn’t tried to pat him on the back after the first damn time. Probably thought it was ‘cause he was gay. And yeah, Merle’d talk a lot of shit if he seen him here. Mouth crap under his breath to try and start a fight. Spit out a queer accusation like there weren’t more important things to worry about than a couple of people with parts that matched screwing.

Merle hadn’t called him a faggot since he hadn’t took advantage of that drunk waitress a few years back. Probably ‘cause he never caught him looking at dick, either. Probably thought baby brother was just shy, or noble, or some other thing that’d sound like a insult the way Merle said it.

“Don’t pull that shit. You know what I’m talking about.”

Aaron sighed. He sighed the sigh of a guy who’d probably been asked way too much personal shit by the well-meaning residents of Alexandria. ‘When did you know?’ had a way of turning into ‘So which of you is the girl?’ It was polite conversation that didn’t usually stay polite.

“High school. Middle school, maybe. Whenever guys like you were starting to look at magazines you stole from your fathers and brothers and learning to lock your bedroom door.”

“Never stole a damned nudie mag in my life.” He pulled out a cigarette and let it rest on his lips. He didn’t know if he was gonna light it. That depended on what came next. He could use the nicotine, but the stale taste of the damn thing wasn’t something he’d inflict on himself for no damn reason.

Aaron’s eyebrows draw together, he turns his head but doesn’t open up his eyes. “No?”

“Nah. Merle tried to pawn some off on me, one of the times he was outta juvie. I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Made a few bucks sellin’ em to a couple a freshmen, though.”

The huff of laughter felt like a reward. “I have to admit, you didn’t strike me as batting for my team.”

“That’s cause I ain’t. If you’re batting for the same team, I’m not even playing the game.”

Aaron doesn’t respond to that right away. Tara’d done the same damn thing, when he had told her on the long trek that’d ended with Alexandria. They were keeping watch and for some reason the silence had bugged him like it did tonight. Rubbed him the wrong way. It had made sense to ask her, just like it made sense to ask Aaron. They weren’t normal either. They were wired wrong, and they’d get it better than any of the other members of the group. (Though he did think Rick had picked up on it. Hard to be in close quarters with somebody for that long and not notice when they ain’t taking anyone to bed or even makin’ doe eyes at ‘em. Shit, everyone had known about Glenn’s little crush in about 2.5 seconds.) She’d looked at him like he’d grown a second head, but she hadn’t tried to pull any of that ‘Maybe you just haven’t met the right person yet’ bullshit. Maybe she’d had people tell her that maybe she just hadn’t met the right guy, yet, and that’s why she didn’t. Just asked ‘Nothing?’ and gotten a ‘Nah. Nothing.’ in reply and let it be. Like he’d told her that he liked blue more than green and not shared something he hadn’t really told anyone before the world went to shit, let alone after.

“How did Carol take it, when you told her?”

And of any of the questions he thought he’d get, that hadn’t been one of them. “I haven’t, yet.” It wasn’t like she needed to know.

He’s confused. “How long have you been together?”

He must not’ve been clear enough, if Aaron thought there was a ‘together’. “It ain’t like that. Told ya, not playing the game-” He lights the cigarette. Fuck it. “-at all.”

“Oh.” Aaron’s eyes are still shut. Part of him wishes they weren’t, just so he could get a better read on the guy. Maybe that’s why he kept ‘em shut, so he couldn’t.

He didn’t even know how to explain what he had with Carol. He loved her, but he hadn’t been  **in**  love with anybody a damned day in his life. She was like the rest of the group, Rick and Michonne and Little Ass Kicker. She was family. She understood him, too. Better than some of them, at least, even if she didn’t always know when to drop it. He didn’t even mind when she touched him, not anymore. ‘Course Aaron would pick up on that. “She’s like a mom, or a sister or something. But it ain’t like that.  **I**  ain’t like that.”

“Right. Well, that does seem like it would be easier, the way things are now. “

“Huh?” The exhale of smoke is rougher than he’d wanted it to be.

“It would be hard enough for the average boy to find a girlfriend. I can’t imagine it would be any easier to find a boyfriend. You’ve managed to avoid that problem in it’s entirety.” He wore one of his zen master bullshit smiles, like everything was the way it should be. 

“Yeah, I guess.” And that was the end of it. No more questions, no more comments. Enough to make him wonder if he should tell the rest of them, just so they wouldn’t try to set him up with one of the other ‘desirable singles’ back in Alexandria.

Maybe. One of these days.


End file.
